Creatures Online
Creatures 4 (also known as Creatures 2011), is a new official creatures game currently in development by Fishing Cactus, licensed by Gameware Development. It is slated for release in early 2012. The game was officially announced on 16th May 2011 and it will be the first Creatures game for iOS. BluesNews were able to confirm that the free-to-play game will be microtransaction-based (small fees), though "most of the content will be entirely free." Bigben, the publishers, have been given the rights to distribute Creatures 4, and all of the previous Creatures games in Europe. From the Gamasutra website: Fishing Cactus (Belgium based developer), Bigben (Publisher) and Gameware Development (the IP rights ''owner) are set to deliver a new Creatures game that ''maintains the characteristics of the earlier games'. It will be 'free-to-play and available on PC/Mac and iOS platforms - iPod, iPhone and iPad. A collector gift box full of surprises will also be created. In approximately 2009, Fishing Cactus floated the idea of C4 amongst themselves and approached Gameware. Fishing Cactus then contacted BigBen Interactive about the game, and they provided funding. Gameplay At Gamescom 2011, Fishing Cactus unveiled a demo of Creatures 4. When the player first starts the demo, they can choose either to create a male or a female Norn. Only two or three Norns can be created at the beginning; you must breed them if you want more. Once the player has selected the gender, they can then use sliders to change how they want their Norn to look and what colour they want the fur to be. Once they have finished, an egg appears in the treehouse. Like the previous games, the player can punish and reward their Norns by tickling and scratching them. In Creatures 4 however this has been changed slightly, as rather than clicking on the nose or bottom of a Norn the player must move the mouse over the Norn whilst holding the left button, with slow movements tickling the Norn and fast movements slapping it. Fishing Cactus have confirmed also that the artificial life technology that the previous games were renowned for is returning in Creatures 4. They have also confirmed that Grendels and Ettins will not be in the initial release of the game, however they are on the "we might make them in an upgrade list". User-generated content will not be supported on release, but may be supported later on. New Norn Design Along with a screenshot of the actual game, Fishing Cactus also included on one of their blog posts a rendered image of the revamped Norn design that will feature in the game, with the most prominent feature being that the Norns have realistic fur, smaller eyes and a less cartoony appearance. As the player progresses through the game they will encounter many different species of Norns. In the demo, there were two species shown: a typical Norn with big ears and a large head, and a rather stocky Norn with a small head and small, catlike ears. There will be five different norn breeds available on release, with each having a distinct 'look' related to its environment. The new Norn design has achieved mostly positive feedback from the Creatures Community, mainly being praised on the new realistic fur and up-to-date graphics. However, some members criticised the new design due to it being less cartoony and somewhat less cutesy than the previous Norns in the other games. As a result, the community member Norngirl made an edited version that more closely resembles the Norns in the previous games, which Don also mocked up here. Payment C4 will be a free-to-play game. An online registration is neccessary, and there will be levels in the game, unlocking items in the shop and in the machines. There will be two currencies in game: coins, which will be collectable in-game by doing actions, and golden eggs, which are occasionally given out as special occasions or will be buyable in the shop for real money. The Norn Creator One of the many features unique to Creatures 4 is the Norn Creator, which allows players to create their own Norns rather than choose from a list of breeds. The player may also randomize what they want their Norn to look like. As shown in the demo, whenever the player's Norns reproduce the player can choose what features are inherited from the parents using sliders to control what feature if they want the Norn to more closely resemble one parent than the other. The first part of the Norn Creator allows the player to change the physical appearance of their Norn in several ways: *'''Pattern Density - Controls how far apart/near the Norn's patterns are to each other *'Fatness' - Controls how fat or thin the Norn is (this doesn't appear to be modifiable with the player's first Norn(s)) *'Fur Length' - Control how thick or thin the Norn's fur is The second part allows the player to change their Norn's fur colour and/or patterns: *'Eye Color' - Changes the colour of the Norn's eyes *'Fur Base Color' - Changes the base color of the Norn's fur *'Fur Pattern Color' - Changes the colour of the Norn's fur pattern *'Spots Color' - Changes the color of the Norn's spots Release The game is planned to be released in early 2012 on iOS (iPhone/iPad/iPodTouch), PC (online client), Mac (AppStore, online client). Related Links *Grandroids artificial life game by Steve Grand *Unofficial Creatures games External Links * Fishing Cactus Blog * Press release, 16th May 2011 * The uncensored truth about Creatures 4 * Pocketgamer.co.uk * Gameblog.fr Category: Creatures games